The Lucille Lortel Awards, the preeminent honor presented exclusively to recognize outstanding off-Broadway achievement, has confirmed its return to a LIVE in-person celebration on Sunday, May 1, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. at NYU Skirball. All New York University guidelines regarding COVID-19 at the time of the event will be enforced. It was also announced that Deirdre O’Connell would receive the Lifetime Achievement Award an

d David Henry Hwang will be inducted on the famous playwrights sidewalk in front of the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and the Lucille Lortel Theater, with additional support provided by TDF.

Lifetime Achievement Award winner Deirdre O’Connell received the 2020 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show for her performance in Dana H. at the Vineyard Theater and later reprized the role on Broadway in the fall of 2021. Further credits from Recent theaters include Fulfillment Center and By the Water at New York City Center, as well as In the Wake at the Public Theater. She also has an OBIE for enduring excellence in performance and a Lilly Award for Distinguished Service to Playwrights.

Inducted into the Playwrights’ Sidewalk, David Henry Hwang is nominated for the 2020 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical for his show, Soft Power, which premiered at the Public Theatre. He won the 1988 Tony Award for Best Play for M. Butterfly, which was recently revived on Broadway in 2017, and is a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama. Hwang serves on the board of directors of the American Theater Wing, where he served as president, and on the board of the playwrights’ guild.

Tickets can be purchased starting April 7 online at tickets.nyu.edu or by visiting the box office in person, Wednesday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. NYU Skirball is located at 566 LaGuardia Place in Washington Square, New York, New York 10012.

The Off-Broadway League Lortel Awards Production and Administration Committee (Jeremy Adams, Tisa Chang, Carol Fishman, George Forbes, Danielle Karliner Naish, Ralph Peña, Catherine Russell, Lindsey Sag and Casey York) and the Lucille Lortel Theater (George Forbes, Jeffrey Shubart, Nancy Hurvitz, Alana Canty-Samuel, Maura Le Viness and Karla Liriano) produce the Lortel Awards Ceremony. Acclaimed writer/director Michael Heitzman returns to direct the Lortel Awards for the twelfth consecutive year. Representatives from the Off-Broadway League, Actors‘ Equity Association, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, United Scenic Artists, Lucille Lortel Theater, in addition to theater journalists, academics and other professionals of Off-Broadway, sit on the voting committee.

For updates and news, visit www.LortelAwards.org.

Deirdre O’Connell’s favorite recent theater credits include: Lucas Hnath’s Dana H at the Lyceum, Vineyard, Goodman and Kirk Douglas Theaters (Lortel, New York Drama Critics Special Citation, OBIE, Outer Critics Circle, Los Angeles Critics Circle and Ovation Awards); Before The Meeting by Adam Bock at the Williamstown Theater Festival; Abe Koogler’s Fulfillment Center (Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations) and Sharyn Rothstein’s By the Water (Lortel nomination) at the Manhattan Theater Club; Terminus by Gabriel Jason Dean, Cavedweller by Kate Moira Ryan and Love and Anger by George F. Walker at the New York Theater Workshop; The Way West by Mona Mansour and Thinner Than Water by Melissa Ross at the LAByrinth Theater Company; Judy by Max Posner on page 73; Eric Simonson’s Magic/Bird at the Longacre Theatre; Jeff Augustin’s Little Children Dream of God at Roundabout; Thunderbodies by Kate Tarker at Soho Rep; Rarity by Lucy Thurber and Rag and Bone by Noah Haidle at Rattlestick; Hamish Linklater’s Vandal at Flea; Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker (OBIE and Drama Desk Awards); Sarah Schumann’s Manic Flight Reaction, Marlene Meyer’s Moe’s Lucky Seven and Neal Bell’s Spatter Pattern at Playwrights Horizons; In the Wake by Lisa Kron (Lortel nomination, Los Angeles Ovation Award, Richard Seff Actors’ Equity Award); The Poor Itch by John Belluso, In The Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks at the Public Theatre; Deborah Zoe Laufer’s End Days at Ensemble Studio Theatre; Lovely Day by Leslie Ayvazian at The Play Company; Mac Wellman’s Antigone at the Big Dance Theatre; Looking for the Pony by Andrea Lepcio at the Vital Theatre; John Belluso’s Pyretown at Keen Company; and Mud by María Irene Fornés at the Signature Theatre. Recent films include Diane, Lez Bomb, I Am a Seagull, The Boy Downstairs, Gabriel, Synecdoche, New York and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Television includes roles in the upcoming “Outer Range” and “Big Door Prize,” as well as “One Dollar,” “The Path,” “The Affair” and “Nurse Jackie.” She holds an OBIE for enduring excellence in acting and a Lilly Award for Distinguished Service to Playwrights.

David Henry Hwang’s work includes the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad and FOB, as well as the Broadway musicals Aida, Flower Drum Song (2002 revival) and Disney’s Tarzan . His Off-Broadway shows have premiered at the Public Theater and the Signature Theater, where he was a Residency One playwright. Called the most produced living opera librettist in America by Opera News, he has written thirteen librettos, including five with composer Philip Glass. His screenplays include M. Butterfly and he is currently writing the musical remake of Disney’s action feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame as well as creating two TV series, Billion Dollar Whale for Westward/SKG and another for Netflix. Hwang co-wrote the gold record “Solo” with late pop music icon Prince and served as writer/consulting producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair from 2015 to 2019. He is a Tony Award winner and three-time nominee, Grammy Award winner and two-time nominee, three-time OBIE Award winner and three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Hwang serves on the board of directors of the American Theater Wing, where he served as president, and on the board of the playwrights’ guild. Her most recent musical, Soft Power, written with composer Jeanine Tesori, premiered in New York City at the Public Theater, where it received five Lucille Lortel nominations, four Outer Critics Honors, a Grammy nomination for Best musical theater album and was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize.

The Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were established in 1985 by the Off-Broadway League. The Lortel Awards recognize excellence in Off-Broadway by honoring artists’ invaluable contribution to the theater community. Representatives from the Off-Broadway League, Actors’ Equity Association, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, United Scenic Artists, Lucille Lortel Theater, in addition to theater journalists, academics and other professionals of Off-Broadway, sit on the voting committee. Prizes may be awarded in the following categories: Play, Musical, Solo Show, Renaissance, Alternative Theater Experience, Director, Choreographer, Principal Performer in a Play and Musical, Featured Performer in a theater and a musical, ensemble, scenic, costume, lighting, sound and projection design. The following honorary awards may also be given: Lifetime Achievement Award, Body of Work (given to an institution), Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway Award, and Playwrights Sidewalk Induction outside the historic Lucille Lortel Theater in New York City. . For more information, please visit www.LortelAwards.org.